Stillness

Many of us long for respite from all the busyness of life. The hectic pace that fills our days.

How do we find calm in the middle of all that “needs to be done”? Here’s what I’ve noticed: Any circumstance, no matter how chaotic in appearance, does contain a still, quiet kernel of truth awaiting our recognition. The "eye of the storm" is aptly named. We can think in terms of staying in the presence of the "I-in-the-Center" regardless of any uproar. The eternal Self which is changeless, timeless and ever present can be our focus at any time.

It is often the chaos of our own minds that we are dealing with. When we attend to the inner spaces, many of our external circumstances clear up on their own. Sometimes having greater clarity of thought permits us to make proper choices relative to a situation. At other times clearing the misperceptions of our own mind is all that is required to see a clearer, less troublesome reality.

What does this mean: "clarity of mind"? Like a still pool with perfectly clear water, our minds reflect with a great intensity of accuracy when quiet. Quiet. Hard to even imagine in today's society, with its bustling noise. Most people are in constant stress. Yet, it is precisely in these circumstances that we most need to quiet our minds ... to be still.

If we are accustomed to nonstop activity, it may take a while to slow down enough to even notice that we have thoughts. At times it requires of us to stand apart from the busy world to remember how to be quiet.

We must start within, even in the midst of the hubbub. Especially in the hubbub. Taking a deep breath can relieve some of the tension we carry in any moment. At an even deeper level, we can breathe into the awareness of the eternal breath. Notice – just notice – the thoughts zooming by. As thoughts. Things zipping through our minds.

Not us. These thoughts are not who we are.

We are eternal in the truth of us. The deep quiet and joy of the Garden of Eden still exists, and the only requisite to get back is to come back to Center. Herein, we have begun the journey home.

Sometimes Spaciousness Calls

If you’ve been feeling out of sorts lately – wanting “time-out” from frenzy and busyness – you’re not alone. In the increasingly frenetic pace of modern times, we who stroll to a slower drummer find ourselves longing for a simpler time. It may be fantasia. It may be our lives never were all that simple.

But we long for it just the same.

We long for lingering conversations that take the time to circle ‘round to a depth of feeling in which we know our souls have touched. We wonder, some days, what we’ve “accomplished”, though we’re sure we feel exhausted by the labor if it.

We yearn for the caress of a soft breeze on our cheek and a smiling sun that we pause to feel in our heart.

And we know there is something missing when we’re just plain busy.

How can this be? That when our time slots are the most crammed we can feel the most empty? We recognize that our nurturance and sustenance come from something other than “things”, including “things on our calendar to do”.

There’s a different math involved here. That which seems empty is full. The deep quiet is brimming with life. In us abides a secret longing to awaken to that quiet space – the Source of all the “things of form”. When we notice the lack of fulfillment in the clutter of busyness, we often gain the necessary motivation to commit to the arduous task of this awakening.

It is not that there is an absence of life in the things of this world. Rather, we can hardly notice the burgeoning life of “here” when we scurry along with the primary focus of trying to get to the next thing “on time”. Sinking into the depth needed to notice the fullness of the moment needs a pause. Enough time for the breath to get in before we shove it out and on to the next item on the list.

Some may have perfected the art of “being in the moment” so adroitly that they can fully fathom every pin’s head of experience. But, for most of us, we need enough time to gather all of ourself into the experience of the moment in order to plumb its potential juice.

Sometimes we want to stand still long enough to savor. This moment. This dialogue. This taste. This experience.

Because – sometimes Spaciousness is calling us Home.